Kingdom of Saxony

The Kingdom of Saxony (in German: Königreich Sachsen ), which existed between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of the Confederation of the Rin, the Germanic Confederation, the German Confederation of the North and, finally, one of the 25 States of the German Empire. It had an surface of 14 993 km² 4 202 216 inhabitants in 1910, 515 000 in 1905).

Its form of government was the hereditary constitutional monarchy, with two cameras that met every two years. The second chamber had 82 deputies. The kingdom of Saxony had four spokesmen in the Federal Council. Its Constitution dated September 4, 1831, subsequently modified on April 20, 1892. The Kingdom of Saxony adhered to the German Confederation of the North on October 21, 1866 and was part of the German Empire. It would disappear as a state in 1918 as a result of the Versailles treaty, when its territory became part of the Weimar Republic.

HISTORY

was Napoleonic

Before 1806 Saxony was part of the Holy Roman Empire, a millennia-old entity made up of various states and noble domains (duchies, episcopal principalities, margraviates, etc.). The leaders of Saxony had carried the title of elector for several centuries. Following the defeat of Emperor Francis II by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz (December 1805), Napoleon created the Confederation of the Rhine on August 6, 1806, which ended the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate became an independent kingdom with the backing of France, then the dominant power in Central Europe. The last elector of Saxony was King Frederick Augustus I.

Frederick Augustus I was forced by Prussia to participate in the Fourth Coalition and, defeated at the Battle of Jena (October 14, 1806), he decided to make peace with France on his own. Napoleon also granted him the title of Duke of Warsaw (his grandfather Augustus had been king of Poland) and Frederick Augustus became his faithful ally. Troops from both states participated in the main battles and were on Napoleon's side—virtually the only German state on his side—when he was defeated at the Battle of Leipzig (October 16–19, 1813).

The allies considered that Frederick Augustus I had lost his throne, so they placed the kingdom under Russian occupation and administration. This was probably more due to the Prussian desire to annex Saxony than to any possible crime committed by Frederick Augustus I, and the fate of Saxony was one of the main points of the Congress of Vienna. It ultimately lost 40% of its territories (including the historically significant Wittenberg, birthplace of the Protestant Reformation), which were annexed by Prussia; but Frederick Augustus I regained the throne and the kingdom from him, which still included the main cities of Dresden and Leipzig. The kingdom joined the German Confederation, an organization that replaced the Holy Empire and the Confederation of the Rhine.

From the Congress of Vienna to the Vormärz (1815 to 1847)

After the Peace of Vienna there followed a period of political restoration in Saxony. After the death of King Frederick Augustus I in 1827, his brother Antonio, aged 71, succeeded him to the throne. Cabinet minister Detlev von Einsiedel attempted to prevent any reforms. The bourgeois elites, however, pressed for his participation in political power. The July Revolution of 1830 in France also caused riots and revolts in Germany, which took disparate courses in the different states as a result of local peculiarities.

In Saxony the uprising was defeated militarily in 1831, although the Government made political concessions. The reforms were moderate; The most important was the adoption of the first Constitution in September 1831. The Kingdom of Saxony thus became a constitutional monarchy that guaranteed civil liberties and a bicameral elected parliament was established. The Upper House and its composition was a copy of the old Diet, while the Lower House was elected on a slightly broader basis.

King Anthony died in 1836 and was succeeded by his nephew Frederick Augustus.

The Revolution of 1848-49

In the spring of 1848, Leipzig was one of the centers of the revolution in the German states. On March 13, the king had to accept a bourgeois government. During the March Revolution, Frederick Augustus II appointed liberal ministers, lifted censorship, and issued a liberal electoral law.

But his attitude changed and, at the end of April 1849, he dissolved Parliament, leading to the uprising in Dresden. On May 3, a demonstration was banned by vigilantes and officially threatened with the entry of the Prussian army, providing the final spark for armed resistance. As a result, there were fights in Dresden and the king fled to the Königstein fortress. However, on May 6, as a threat, Prussian troops arrived. The result after four days of combat was 30 fallen soldiers and about 200 dead barricade fighters, as well as numerous political prisoners. The revolution was crushed without major political concessions.

From the Austro-Prussian War to the rapprochement with Prussia

During the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Saxony allied itself with Austria and the Saxon army was generally the only ally to provide substantial aid to its cause (along with Hanover), even abandoning the defense of Saxony itself to join Austrian forces in Bohemia. Saxony was quickly occupied by Prussian troops and its army shared the defeat of the Austrians at Königgrätz (July 3, 1866).

In the Berlin peace treaty, the Saxon Government had to recognize the political changes and the country became a member of the North German Confederation, under Prussian leadership. Originally, Prussia wanted to completely incorporate the Kingdom of Saxony, as it had already done with the duchies of Schleswig-Holstein, the landgraviate of Kurhessen, the duchy of Nassau and the Kingdom of Hanover. On the other hand, Emperor Franz Joseph I expressly abstained, since he considered the continuity of the Saxon state - as the most faithful ally - a matter of honor, although above all because he wanted to avoid the Prussian siege of Bohemia. Under the mediation of Count Alfred von Fabrice—who assured Prussia of extensive military cooperation—as well as the intercession of the then Prussian Federal Chancellor and Minister President Otto von Bismarck, King William I finally renounced the annexation of Saxony.

As chief of the Saxon General Staff, Von Fabrice was instrumental in the strategic bravery of the Saxon troops at Königgrätz. This was recognized by friends and enemies, even by Prussia. The peace negotiations focused on military aspects and the integration of the Saxon Army. General von Fabrice was able to build further confidence by entering into a military agreement with Prussia in the form of the Saxon Army Corps, which remained in the North German Confederation with its own insignia, equipment and uniforms. However, Saxony's state sovereignty was severely limited since then. In 1868 a constitutional amendment was approved that gave the regional Parliament (Landtag) more rights and expanded the voting rights for the Lower House.

With Prussia's victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the members of the Confederation were organized by Otto von Bismarck into the Second Reich, with William I as Kaiser. John I of Saxony, as titular king, found himself subordinate and owed loyalty to the emperor, although he, like the other German princes, retained the prerogatives of a sovereign, including the ability to establish diplomatic relations with other states. At that time Saxony was, of all the German states, the one with the highest per capita income and industrial development.

Within the German Empire

Saxony benefited after 1871, particularly from the general recovery in Germany. It was the German state with the highest industrial density and the highest national income (per capita). There was also an increase in modernization in administration, while the political system remained upside down. Restricted suffrage ensured power for a small minority of the property-owning classes; It would be expanded with the new electoral law of 1896, which introduced, however, three-class suffrage. Likewise, in the last third of the xix century, Saxony was a center of the German labor movement under the leadership of August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht.

The end of the kingdom

King Frederick Augustus III (reigned 1904-1918) was the last Saxon king and the last ruler of the House of Wettin in Saxony. Frederick Augustus was considered conservative and shy.^{[citation needed]}

The Saxon electoral law was reformed in 1909 under the cooperation of the king and achieved broader representation of the population. On the contrary, his attempt to reorganize the school system failed in 1912.

At the beginning of the First World War, on August 2, 1914, the king called his "sons and brothers" to arms. The Saxon Army fought as part of the Imperial German Army. At the beginning of 1918 the signs of war fatigue were growing, not only among the people. The monarch also had considerable doubts about the continuation of the war, but he was not prepared to participate in mediating an immediate peace. Faced with the Revolution of 1918, King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony abdicated and the Kingdom of Saxony became the Free State of Saxony within the newly formed Weimar Republic.

Government

The 1831 Constitution of Saxony established the state as a parliamentary monarchy (art. 3):

Die Regierungsform ist monarchisch, und es besteht dabei eine landständische Verfassung.

The form of government is monarchical, and there is a state constitution.

King

The king was appointed as "sovereign head of the state" (art. 4). He was required to follow the provisions of the Constitution and could not become ruler of any other state (except by blood inheritance) without the consent of the Diet (arts. 5 and 138). The crown was hereditary in the male line of the royal family through agnatic primogeniture, although there were provisions allowing a female line to be inherited in the absence of qualified male heirs (arts.. 6-7).

All acts or decrees signed or issued by the king had to be countersigned by at least one of his ministers, who was responsible for them. Without ministerial countersignature, no act of the king was to be considered valid (art. 43). The king was given the right to declare any accused innocent or, alternatively, mitigate or suspend his punishment or pardon him (but not increase the penalties).; such decrees did not require joint ministerial signature (art. 52). He was also given supreme power over religious matters in Saxony (art. 57). He appointed the president of the Upper House of the Diet, along with a representative from among three candidates suggested by that house, and also appointed the president and the representative of the Lower House.

The king was given the exclusive power to enact laws and carry them out, and only with his consent could any proposed law be presented to the Diet (arts. 85 and 87).

Monarchs of Saxony

Image	Shield	Name	Home	Finalization	Real consort
Wettin House (1806-1918)
		Federico Augusto I (1750-1827)	6 August 1806	5 May 1827	Amalia de Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (1752-1828) married in 1769
		Antonio I (1755-1836)	5 May 1827	6 June 1836	Maria Teresa Josefa of Austria (1767-1827) married in 1787
		Federico Augusto II (1797-1854)	6 June 1836	9 August 1854	María Ana de Baviera (1805-1877) married in 1833
		Juan I (1801-1873)	9 August 1854	29 October 1873	Amalia de Baviera (1801-1877) married in 1822
		Alberto I (1828-1902)	29 October 1873	19 June 1902	Carola de Vasa (1833-1907) married in 1852
		Jorge I (1832-1904)	19 June 1902	15 October 1904	María Ana de Braganza (1843-1889) Crown Princess of Saxony married in 1859
		Federico Augusto III (1865-1932)	15 October 1904	13 November 1918	Luisa of Austria-Toscana (1870-1947) married in 1891

Ministries

The Ministry was defined in the Constitution as consisting of six ministerial departments, all of which were made responsible to the Diet (art. 41.1):

• of Justice;
• Finance;
• of the Interior;
• of the War;
• Education; and
• Foreign Affairs.

Parliament

The Parliament or Assembly of the States (Ständeversammlung) was divided into two chambers, which were constitutionally equal in their rights and status, and neither of them met without the other (arts. 61-62).

Judiciary

The judiciary was made independent of the civil government (arts. 44 and 47). The Superior Court of the Judiciary, created in articles 142 to 150, was also given authority to rule on "doubtful" points in the Constitution; His decision was decreed as final and protected from royal interference (art. 153).

Orders of chivalry

• Order of the Crown of Ruda
• Order of San Enrique
• Order of Alberto
• Civil Order of Saxony
• Order of sernia (Female Order)
• Order of Mary Anna (Female Order)

Administrative division

In the first decade of its existence, the Kingdom of Saxony was divided into the same organizations of the Middle Ages, seven Saxon electoral circles from the century xvi. On June 22, 1816, the administrative structure of the kingdom was reorganized after territorial losses.

In 1831, after the adoption of the Saxon Constitution and the resulting constitutional unification of the kingdom, a new administrative reorganization of the territory became necessary.

With the organization law of April 21, 1873, the administrative structure of the kingdom was decisively redesigned. This division came into force only with effect from October 15, 1874. Its importance was that the judiciary and administration in the kingdom were then completely separated; In addition, local authorities became truly lower administrative authorities.

Religion

Saxony is often seen as the homeland of the Protestant Reformation. It was predominantly Lutheran from the 16th century until the end of the xx.

Saxony is often seen as the homeland of the Protestant Reformation. It was predominantly Lutheran from the 16th century until the end of the xx.

Martin Luther personally oversaw the Lutheran Church in Saxony and shaped it in a manner consistent with his own views and ideas. The centuries xvi, xvii< /span> and xviii were heavily dominated by Lutheran orthodoxy. Furthermore, the Reformed faith made inroads with the so-called crypto-Calvinists, but suffered severe persecution in a largely Lutheran state. In the 17th century, Pietism became an important influence. In the 18th century, the Moravian Church was established on the Earl of Zinzendorf's estate in Herrnhut. From 1525 the rulers were traditionally Lutheran and widely recognized as defenders of the Protestant faith, although—beginning with Augustus II the Strong, who was forced to convert to Catholicism in 1697 to become king of Poland—his monarchs were exclusively Catholic.. This meant that Augustus and the later kings of Saxony, who were Catholic, ruled over a state with an almost entirely Protestant population.

Economy

Economy

During the reign of John I the railway network was extended. The introduction of freedom of trade is mainly attributed to its suggestion and promotion. Additionally, a trade agreement was signed with France in 1862.

The rise of Saxony as a leading industrial and commercial state in Central Europe can be read in the sales success and economic dominance of Saxon industry in the Zollverein since 1834. The rapid development of an efficient railway system can be traced back to 1837. The opening of Leipzig as a trade center after the introduction of the trade fair in 1895 was accompanied by the decline of traditional small businesses and the spread of poverty, as well as spectacular failures (such as the collapse of the Leipziger Bank 1901).

Education

Derived from ecclesiastical foundations, the Meissen cathedral school (1183) or the schools of the monasteries of St. Afra (1205) and St. Thomas (1409) are mentioned. The educational institutions of princely foundation were the Latin School of Zwickau (1291) and the University of Leipzig (1409).

In Dresden since 1532 an elementary school system can be detected. In the following centuries, the establishment of educational institutions continued, resulting in a wide spectrum. In 1835, the organizational structure of elementary education began. The goal was to establish an eight-year compulsory education.

This was followed by the creation of the foundations for sufficient general education and, at the same time, the creation of the basic prerequisites, methods and conditions for subsequent vocational training. The key role in this task was assumed by the schools of Meissen and Pforta (founded in 1543) and technical colleges and universities of applied sciences, such as the University of Freiberg (founded in 1765 as School of Mines), the Dresden Veterinary School (1774), the Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry (which was established in 1811 in Tharandt), the Institute of Technical Education in Dresden (founded in 1828) and the Leipzig Business School (1898).

Army

The Royal Saxon Army (German: Königlich Sächsische Armee) was the military force of the Electorate (1682-1807) and later of the Kingdom of Saxony (1807-1918). The regular Saxon Army was first established in 1682 and continued to exist until the abolition of the German monarchies in 1918.

The founder of the standing army in Saxony was the elector John George III. During the Napoleonic Wars the army fought mostly on the side of France. In the course of the xix century, the Army ended up within the Imperial German Army and was part of it until the fall of the Empire, of the Kingdom of Saxony and the Army itself in the First World War.